Company proposes airless tyre made by transfer moulding

Boca Raton, Florida -- Venture Capital company, NewTech Tire claims to have succesfully tested a non-pneumatic tyre using technology that appears at least superficially similar to Michelin's Tweel project. Company president, Morris Corn says Newtech is looking for strategic partners.

In a statement, the company said, "On August 18, 2005, at Standards Testing Laboratories in Massilon, Ohio, we ran the NewTech Airless tyre on the test wheel. The load was 775 lbs (3450 N). The speed was 50 mph (80 kph). The tyre was mounted on a conventional 15”by 7” steel wheel. The tyre ran cool and smooth, with tread temperature below 130 F (55 C) and bead temperature below 115 F (46 C), for 22 hours.

The company said it ran the tyre on a test drum and measured a rolling resistance (spindle force) of 7.15 lb (31.8 N) at 50 mph and 800 lb load. it said this is lower than conventional tyres, indicating better gas mileage than ordinary tyres. New Tech added that they have tested the tyre on roads in Eastern Europe, where" It rode, handled, and cornered normally as the right rear tyre on a Mazda 626".

On its website, the company said, "The NewTech Airless Tire is designed around a set of internal ribs. The ribs run radially from one side of the wheel, up the sidewall, across under the tread, down the other sidewall, to the other side of the wheel. The rib material is glass fiber composite with thermoplastic matrix.

"We plan to produce a transfer-molded tire, using the precured molded tread stock. This tire only needs two rubber compounds,

the tread stock and the body stock. Early cost analysis indicates that this tire can be produce at a lower manufacturing cost than

conventional pneumatic tires. The NewTech Airless Tire is patent-pending.

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Website of NewTech Tire (US -- Florida)